Archive for January 2011

Every time I visit CES, I like to dig around looking for something other than the usual big-brand announcements, and this year is no exception. My favorite off-the-beaten-path thing of the year so far? The ID-1SWAT copter from RotorConcept.

Did the great snowpocalypse get you down? Then head on outside just like Jabo27 and build yourself a fallen AT-AT snow fort. If you’ve got a front yard on the East Coast, then you probably still have enough snow around to do this as well.

I know that there are a bunch of geeks out there that strip out the factory audio gear in their new car as soon at its parked in the drive way. I can understand that, the factory stuff tends to not sound that great for the most part, and is often feature limited.

I have always wanted to automate my home, mostly because my entire family is lazy. I am apparently the only one capable of walking across the room and tuning off a light. I want to be lazy too.

The boxy, toy-like car you see below is the work of Giant Robot magazine publisher Eric Nakamura and Len Higa of Onimotorworks. Nakamura was asked by Toyota to come up with a design for a custom Scion xB, and he decided to go with a video game theme.

Keeping up with a running schedule can be taxing. If you don’t have a calendar you mark off to keep up with your running plan, it’s easy for a week or two to pass with you forgetting about that New Year’s resolution you started.

Where he’s going, he will need the Triforce: What started out as a Photoshopped image by Chad Daniels has rightfully been turned into a shirt by Caldwell Tanner and Shawn Handyside. You can get the A Link to the Future T-shirt at Level Up Studios; the men’s shirt sells for $19 (USD) while the women’s shirt costs $20.

This interesting little app for the iPhone and iPod Touch interacts with special versions of gaming software on your PC to turn it into a motion controller for games.

We can always rely on the guys at CTA Digital to show up at CES with some goofy add-on for gaming consoles. This year is no different, and they’re showing a variety of silly business. My personal favorite (next to these inflatable karts for Mario Kart) is their bowling ball add-on for the various motion-controlled games out there.

I am a big fan of Razer gaming gear for the computer going way back. The last thing I would have expected to see from Razer at CES was a concept for gaming that is not a controller, but rather a full portable PC for mobile gaming.

I am a big fan of ThinkGeek, and I am a big fan of mobile gaming with my iPad and other touchscreen devices. When ThinkGeek debuts a new joystick add on for any touchscreen device they have my attention.

When my son was an infant, my wife and I didn’t get much sleep for the first few months. We missed sleep not because he cried anymore than a normal baby, but because the doctor went crazy one day and mentioned sudden infant death syndrome in front of my wife.

I can’t remember the last time I bought a stereo, but the Denon N7 has got some interesting possibilities since it links with Apple Airplay’s system to stream your entire iTunes library.

How many times have you wanted to use a flash drive with your iPad or iPhone, but couldn’t? Usually, you end up emailing a document because you had no other way of transferring your information. This is really annoying, seeing as there are sometimes issues with email file transfers, and no Internet access at times.

The tablet wars continue at CES this week, with more and more competitors entering the fray. Motorola is one of the companies who recently announced entry into the market, with the XOOM Tablet (I wonder what the first XOOM thinks about having a namesake).

…or false alarms for that matter. That’s because Matt Richardson’s project only involves a sensor that detects when his mailbox is opened, whether or not important mail or any mail is put inside. But it’s still a neat hack, and will be quite useful if you frequently forget to check for snail mail.